Earlier this month, artsy nonprofit Glovebox took over DTX
hangout Scholars, where local musicians Ederson, Kristin Cifelli, and the
Chaparrals serenaded the culture-vulture crowd. Guests sipped specialty
cocktails, bid on silent-auction items (think 2-D and 3-D artwork, a staycation
at the Liberty Hotel, and a man-cave package for sports fans), and waited for
the big announcement: the winner of the evening's raffle for shiny new wheels
from Scooters Go Green.

If you're like, uh, 99.9
percent of the human population (which includes us), chances are you've
resolved to get in shape before. And if you're like 99.9% of that
population (which also includes us), chances are your very best intentions gave
way to late-night beer and pizza orgies and canceled gym memberships come
February.

Sometimes
the most awful, unimaginable things happen to the people who least
deserve it. All too often, life seems to unfold that way. Those were
the first thoughts that came to mind moments ago, when I heard the
incredibly sad news that iconic Boston peace activist Cindy Diggs,
who also happens to be a good friend, lost her Mission Hill home and
most of her belongings in a fire on Christmas Eve, of all times.

Earlier this month, local designer Daniela Corte drew Boston's most stylish to the W to shop, sip, and
raise some green for the Robin Hood Foundation's Sandy
relief effort. All proceeds from the evening's signature cocktails - like the Ricardo
(heavy on the tequila) and the Daniela (prosecco laced with gold glitter) -
were donated, as was a portion of proceeds from Corte's new collection of
fierce leggings, stretchy knit numbers accented with sequins, silk, and faux
leather.

Sumeria Group, a newish network that connects young
professionals in Boston and four other cities with social-engagement opps,
recently welcomed a few hundred pretty young things to a formal party at the
Seaport Hotel. Well-dressed revelers said goodbye
to November with a Fall Finale fundraiser for not one, but four partner
organizations: Cristo Rey Boston High School, college-access nonprofit
Let's Get Ready, student-entrepreneurship program BUILD, and the American Red
Cross's Hurricane Sandy relief efforts.

Color Channel are at Great Scott with New Highway Hymnal + Fat Creeps + Yale, MA

Don't feel like ringing in 2013 by fighting red-faced bros at the bar for watered down dixie cups of beer at some "all-you-can-drink" party? We feel you. That's why we rounded up just a few of the bands playing shows (and some under ten bucks!) around town as an alternative.

I have what I
think is a conclusive argument against the 2d Amendment, which is, in a
nutshell, weapons technology has arrived at a fundamentally different
circumstance than that in which the Amendment was written: then, the
state and the people had access to the same technology; now, the state
will always outgun the people. Always. Because of the massive resources
needed to build the weapons the state has access to, no private person
or group of persons will be able to match that armory. So the rationale
of the Amendment, which was to eliminate a disparity in armament between
the state and the people, is rendered moot. The state is going to win
that arms race every time.

Also: the Framers had no notion of
nonviolent protests (the Tea Party was the closest thing to that, but it
was an attack on supplies, perhaps similar to a boycott or strike, but
not a true massive nonviolent resistance.) Here in the 21st Century we
know that nonviolent resistance is vastly more effective in resisting
and overturning governments than armed rebellion, especially in the age
of the Internet. So, even if the government/populace arms disparity
cannot be levelled, the people possess a more potent weapon which cannot
be seized by government.

Ok.

But then I started
thinking: Even if we allow that people will want to keep their guns for
hunting or sport or even "self-defense" (there are problems with this
idea, of course, but let's skip them) - WE COULD BE BUILDING SMARTER GUNS.

As
noted in the Phoenix and a follow-up blog post two weeks ago,
the Boston City Council appears to be competently prepping for the
arrival of medical marijuana. As the state Department of Public
Health (DPH) irons out innumerable details, councilors here and
elsewhere are primarily tasked with figuring out where dispensaries
will go.

We're the kind of
people you see sprinting frantically around the mall on Christmas Eve,
mainlining food-court coffee with sweat streaming down our red faces as we
elbow other hapless procrastinators out of our way because WE SAW THAT SCARF
FIRST AIGHT? But we're not proud of it.

It
wasn't too long into fall semester before white kids from cozy towns
resumed brutally slaughtering innocent school children. As the
routine goes, we collectively cringe, while celebrities tweet sweet
compassionate gestures, and reporters hustle clean around the clock
to prove that it was all just a mistake – that none of this was
supposed to have transpired.

"I think it's important on a day like today to view this as I know the
president, as a father does and I as a father and others who are parents
certainly do, which is to feel enormous sympathy for families that are
affected and to do everything we can to support state and local law
enforcement and support those who are enduring what appears to be a very
tragic event.

Philip Bennett, the managing editor of FRONTLINE, the landmark, high quality
PBS newsmagazine produced from WGBH's Allston headquarters, is said to be a
"stealth candidate" for the job of replacing outgoing Boston Globe editor
Martin Baron.

Bennett was hired to cover local news when he first came to the Globe and eventually became Foreign News
Editor.

This week in the Phoenix, Wen Stephenson profiles Naomi Klein -- "black-clad and sharp-tongued mistress of the global anti-corporate left, friend to Occupiers and scourge of oil barons" -- as she turns her attention to the cause of climate justice. Below is a longer excerpt from their conversation -- about Klein's alliance with 350.

Music
and fashion have long been inextricably linked. And the Boston scene is no
exception. The 25th annual Boston Music Awards were a celebration of that
intersection of music and style, with five floors of performances, drinks, and
creative expression. Here, the fashion statements came through as loud and
clear as the songs.